Australia details Feb barley, sorghum exports

A 30,500t cargo of barley bound for China loads at the WA port of Albany in February. Photo: Commodity Ag

AUSTRALIA exported 1,509,584 tonnes of barley and 188,666t of sorghum in February, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

On barley, the feed component totalled 1,137,916t, up 11 percent from the volume shipped in January.

China was once again the biggest market by far, taking 900,174t of the feed total, followed by Saudi Arabia on 98,666t and Vietnam on 38,450t.

Malting barley exports in February totalled 371,668t, up 11pc from the 337,671t shipped in January.

China on 323,505t followed by Vietnam on 35,587t and Japan on 6240t were February’s three biggest malting barley markets.

February sorghum exports increased more than twelve-fold from the January total of 15,072t to reflect new-crop availability thanks to commencement of the southern Queensland harvest.

McDonald Pelz senior broker Sam Roache said barley exports for February set a consecutive record month.

“This number is above shipping stems and sets the tone for more potential record-breaking months in March and April,” Mr Roache said.

“Demand continues in China at today’s season-high prices, with globally price competition remaining limited and Australian prices remains fairly competitive, especially in the germination and FAQ categories.

“China shipments are accounting for more than 80pc of the total, which is improving as Middle East demand drops off with price.

“This is expected to continue into June, before Middle East shipments drop entirely and switch to Northern Hemisphere.”

Mr Roache said Western Australian barley prices are well above its what prices.

“This seems to be the tone for the foreseeable future and, along with fertiliser prices, is a major driver of significant increase in barley area at the expense of wheat.”

“Barley stems show more than 80pc of expected annual shipments out to only May, with more to come on to stems and more new business in the pipeline for May forward.”

“We expect a surprise to the upside on total exports and a complete clean-out of the available stocks.”

Mr Roache said the trade-off will be a higher-than-expected wheat carry-out, owing to export economics.

Along with an uptick in container volume, exports of bulk new-crop sorghum from northern New South Wales and southern Queensland kicked off in February.

“We expect volumes to grow for March and April-May, with solid numbers on the shipping stems already.

“Pace will need to tick higher and recent price escalations are not doing many favours for demand into destination.”

Sorghum is going almost entirely to China, and Mr Roache said only a major political shift looks likely to change that.

“US politics is very supportive of the Australian demand profile, with Trump’s latest tariff threats keeping US cargo-buying aside for the meantime, and giving Argentina and Australia a significant market advantage.”

Mr Roache said conflict involving Iran has had little impact on demand for Australian barley.

“Total demand is lightly suppressed, with Persian Gulf buyers unable to buy.

“Shipping and internal execution costs remain elevated, driven by fuel costs.”

FEED	Dec	Jan	Feb	Tonnes
Cambodia	296	0	0	296
China	820387	725010	900174	2445571
Kuwait	0	21417	33334	54751
Malaysia	179	0	350	529
Mexico	0	0	33000	33000
New Caledonia	0	201	197	398
New Zealand	0	6600	0	6600
Oman	0	48181	0	48181
Pakistan	0	0	663	663
Papua New Guinea	50	0	0	50
Philippines	1276	1092	814	3182
Qatar	0	0	22050	22050
Saudi Arabia	225950	107050	98666	431666
South Korea	1396	836	746	2978
Taiwan	2840	2055	2211	7105
Thailand	2850	1125	3089	7065
UAE	72	54862	0	54934
Vietnam	6266	8199	38450	52915
Yemen	0	50421	4173	54593
TOTAL	1061561	1027048	1137916	3226526

Table 1: Australia’s December 2025 and January and February 2026 feed barley exports. Source: ABS

MALTING	Dec	Jan	Feb	Tonnes
China	139294	303281	323505	766080
Ecuador	0	7250	0	7250
Japan	20	0	6240	6260
Peru	0	18592	0	18592
Philippines	938	780	1024	2742
Singapore	3410	2625	4402	10437
South Korea	14680	370	463	15513
Thailand	0	0	448	448
Vietnam	1429	4772	35587	41789
TOTAL	159771	337671	371668	869110

Table 1: Australia’s December 2025 and January and February 2026 malting barley exports. Source: ABS

SORGHUM	Dec	Jan	Feb	Tonnes
China	8601	10771	184242	203614
Japan	64	43	22	128
Philippines	2455	2177	1750	6382
Saudi Arabia	51	0	0	51
Taiwan	1737	2082	2503	6321
Vietnam	50	0	150	199
TOTAL	12957	15072	188666	216695

Table 1: Australia’s December 2025 and January and February 2026 sorghum exports. Source: ABS

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Australia details Feb barley, sorghum exports

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